Three Up, Three Down: Week 6

The trick to staying ahead of the curve is looking at usage, not production. We talk about usage a lot on the Footballguys Fantasy Football Show. And in today's episode, we discuss rest-of-season tight end rankings, spending extra time talking about Mark Andrews and Tucker Kraft.

Listen here.

Three Up

WR Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers

The first few weeks of the season were objectively disappointing for Brandon Aiyuk. Through Week 3, he was PPR's per-game WR60, averaging just 7.6 points per game alongside guys like KaVontae Turpin and Calvin Austin III. The usage had been odd for Aiyuk, pulling less than seven targets per game. He had failed to record more than 50 yards or find the end zone in a single outing. But the weirdest development was his seemingly drastic change in usage. Aiyuk's at his best when he's running deep crossing routes that allow him to catch the ball in space with room to create yards after the catch. He was instead asked to play tighter to the line of scrimmage while Jauan Jennings got the valuable downfield action. But after back-to-back losses to the Vikings and Rams, Aiyuk's usage returned to what made him so valuable last year. His average target depth jumped to 18.0 yards downfield (8.4 and 9.9 in Weeks 2 and 3). The production wasn't there, as Aiyuk recorded just two catches for 48 yards. But it tipped the 49ers' hand for Aiyuk's expected usage, and we saw that manifest in Week 5. Aiyuk set season highs in targets, receptions, and yards. He did that while maintaining his downfield routes and averaging nearly seven yards after the catch per reception. There are undoubtedly a lot of mouths to feed in this 49ers' offense. But Aiyuk's rare ability to pull targets deep downfield while making plays after the catch set him up for a sky-high weekly ceiling.

RB Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams

Blake Corum's addition to the "Trending Up" section of this article is not any knock on Kyren Williams. Williams has developed into a hard-nosed runner and is the engine that powers this offense. However, he's also had a history of injuries that's tough to ignore. And Sean McVay has proven his ability to provide almost any running back with a role that is valuable in fantasy football. Blake Corum was a Day 2 pick by the Rams. And looking at his measurables, athleticism, college production, and draft capital, he was a very good incoming prospect. Prospect profiles alone would lead you to believe that Corum is a better back than Williams. Of course, Williams has earned his role as the Rams' RB1 at this point. But early in the season, expectations that Corum would carve out a role were quickly squashed. He was used almost exclusively on special teams, and Ronnie Rivers would occasionally spell Williams on offense. However, Week 5 wasn't the first time we've seen Corum get some in-game action. He saw eight carries late in a Week 2 blowout against the Cardinals. But the timing of his touches and the erasure of Rivers from the Week 5 game plan are tough to ignore. Corum saw five carries and a target on Sunday, with some of those valuable touches coming near the goal line. It's too early to think about Corum as someone who could have any stand-alone value. But he's quickly climbed the depth chart to be the team's RB2, putting him just one injury away from a potential top-five role in fantasy football, Sean McVay's bellcow.

TE Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers

The cat is officially out of the bag following Tucker Kraft's two-touchdown performance in Week 5. Despite averaging just 4.0 PPR points per game in his two starts with Malik Willis, Kraft is the TE3 on the season. That comes largely in part to a ludicrous 15.9 points per game with Jordan Love. When removing the Willis starts from Kraft's sample, only George Kittle's 16.0 PPR points per game tops Kraft's output. Last year, the Packers drafted two tight ends. Luke Musgrave appeared to have the edge over Kraft, but Musgrave picked up an early-season injury last year and those roles flipped. Kraft is a full-time player in this exciting Packers offense. His 124 routes are the 13th-most among all tight ends this year, and his utilization puts him in the slot and out wide in addition to his in-line role. It only took a quarter of the season for Kraft to evolve from being a trendy sleeper to a must-start option.